655.Chapter 655
“Someone… get in here, now!”
Dale gritted his teeth and called out, his voice strained with pain. The butler, who had been ordered to wait outside, rushed in, panic written all over his face.
“My Lord! My Lady! How could she be so cruel?”
The butler trembled with anger, his hands hovering uncertainly. He wanted to help Dale but was afraid of worsening his injuries. He also wanted to check on Adeline, but the thought of triggering the poison in her body made him hesitate.
To make matters worse, Sophie had the entire estate under lockdown, leaving the butler unable to summon a doctor from outside.
With great effort, Dale managed to speak, his voice weak but resolute. “The antidote… is on the floor. Give it to her first… then go to the study and take my wound medicine.”
Dale often trained at home, so he always kept some wound medicine in his study.
With no doctor available, he had no choice but to treat his injuries himself.
It wasn’t that Dale feared Sophie and didn’t dare to call for help. He knew she wouldn’t risk killing him outright. His real concern was that any doctor who entered the estate might never leave.
The butler and servants bustled about, and after a tense flurry of activity, both Dale and Adeline managed to survive the ordeal.
However, Adeline never revealed who she had truly gone to meet.
While chaos engulfed the Marquis’s estate, the Duke’s estate was far from peaceful as well.
After returning to the Duke’s estate from court, Gabriel and Benedict entered the study one after the other.
Before the butler could even close the door, Gabriel spun around and delivered a resounding slap across Benedict’s face.
“You insolent fool! Did you already forget what I warned you about yesterday?” Gabriel bellowed, his voice laced with fury.
Benedict’s head tilted to the side, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. Yet, his expression remained calm as he replied evenly, “No, I haven’t.”
“How dare you defy me?”
Gabriel’s face was livid with rage as he glared at Benedict. “Speak! Did you interfere to keep the Grand Imperial Censor from attending court today?”
Benedict met his father’s furious gaze head–on and admitted, “I did.”
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655.Chapter 655
Before the words had fully left his mouth, Gabriel gave him another furious slap, striking his face so hard that it was knocked to the other side.
“Ungrateful brat! How did I end up raising such a bunch of rebellious, useless children?”
Gabriel wanted to pin the blame on Caroline, but then he remembered that his two illegitimate sons and daughters were just as much a bunch of fools.
Ironically, the daughter he had cast out of the family, Eliza, was the one who most resembled him–sharp, unyielding, and maddeningly defiant.
What a cruel twist of fate.
But no matter how much Eliza mirrored his own traits, Gabriel had already decided- there was no way he would let her off the hook now.
“I warned you, but you chose to ignore me. Don’t blame me for what happens to your ungrateful sister!”
“Father!”
Benedict’s expression darkened, his voice rising with anger. “You can’t touch Eliza!”
“Oh? And what exactly can you do to stop me?” Gabriel sneered.
Despite this, he slowly clenched his fists, refusing to back down. ‘I’ve let Eliza down too many times already. This time, I’ll protect her no matter what.’
When Gabriel stormed off to check the hiding place of the ledger and found it truly missing, his fury erupted. He returned in a rage, unsheathing the sword from his study with a sharp metallic hiss and pressing it against Benedict’s neck.
“Where is it?” Gabriel demanded, his voice cold and sharp.
Even with the blade at his throat, Benedict didn’t flinch.
Gabriel’s rage boiled over at his son’s silence.
With a furious thrust, he drove the blade into Benedict’s shoulder. “I asked you, where is it?” he roared.
Benedict grunted in pain but held his ground. “It’s useless, Father. I’ve already sent the ledger out of Hasen City. If you dare lay a finger on Eliza, my people will expose everything. The whole world will know your dirty secrets!”
Gabriel’s fury erupted as he slapped Benedict hard, splitting the corner of his mouth.
“You insolent brat!”
Benedict knelt on the ground, his arms twisted behind his back. Despite the pain, he suddenly burst into laughter, tears glistening in his eyes.
“Father, weren’t you always so sure I couldn’t touch you? Then why are you so angry now? Shouldn’t I be the one losing my temper?”
“For years, you played the role of the perfect father. But now, the mask is slipping, isn’t it? Eliza already exposed your dirty secrets about your illegitimate daughter and son. How can you still keep pretending?”
“But that can’t be all, can it?”
Benedict tilted his head back, his laughter tinged with bitterness as he stared at Gabriel. “You think we’re all fools? I saw it in court today. Eliza clearly held back. So, what else have you done to betray us? Was it to Eliza? Or to Mother?”
“Come on, Father. Spill everything you’ve done, and I’ll tell you where the ledger is. What do you think?”
His bloodshot eyes burned with grief and defiance as he glared at the silent Gabriel.
“Why won’t you speak?” Benedict demanded, his voice trembling with rage. “Are too scared to admit it?”
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